Donald Trump became one of Chris Christie’s problems that he was unable to overcome.
The only remarkable thing about Chris Christie’s 2016 presidential campaign the trip wire that he successfully set for rival Marco Rubio during Saturday’s debate. The latter tripped on it over and over again. But the episode did nothing to enhance Christie’s own prestige among the voters. In fact, he had made very little progress in the Republican camp. Chris Christie finally dropped out of the presidential race on Wednesday after becoming the recipient of around seven percent votes in the New Hampshire.
This was not unpredictable at all. Almost a year ago, there was a newspaper article which was titled ‘Chris Christie’s Chances Are Overrated. The article stated three important reasons why Christie was doomed to fail.
First of all, Chris Christie is too moderate for his own sake since his party has become extremely conservative. It was the same problem Iowa state. Christie did not even try to compete in that state. But in New Hampshire the share of moderate Republicans has also dropped significantly during the past four years. Christie had some competition for this little chunk of voters. Jeb Bush, Donald Trump and John Kasich were also viewing the same chunk.
The second reason is that Christie did not have the disciple. If support could be measured through endorsements, then Christie had done quite well. But his actual support was lesser than the endorsement points when he left the race. He earned the support of almost all the people that were supposed to endorse him that is he could not compel anyone else other than his usual base.
He never won an out-of-group endorsement which is essential for a candidate building a consensus. This may have been due to his lack of discipline. It may also be that the Republican elite have punished him for praising Obama after the hurricane Sandy. There is another very fundamental problem with Chris Christie: He seems to have a problem with making news.
The most important factor that contributed to his failure is that he wasn’t regarded as an electable candidate by most of the electorate. His chances improved a little over the course of his campaign but it could not undo the damage faced due to ‘Bridgegate.”
Chris Christie did have some strong points in areas other than that. He was one of the best Republican debaters. He is also the best retail politicians within the ranks of the GOP.
Ideological alignment and loyalty to the party are essential for winning a presidential nomination. If you rank high in these categories, you have a better chance of winning. Christie couldn’t score the highest points in both regards.
One of his problems was Donald Trump. He nipped into Chris Christie’s chunk of voters by presenting himself as a liberal and someone tough on terrorism. Trump was also a recipient of wide media coverage due to his successful campaign.
In the end, Chris Christie failed in running a disciplined campaign. He was also unable to cook up a few controversies so that attention could be drawn to himself. Chris Christie was losing the game, and by the time he realized it, it was too late.
